Scarlett
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps from scarlet, the vivid red color.
Roughly 104,418 people in the United States go by the first name Scarlett, which ranks #27 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Scarlett today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Scarlett births was 2016 (7,721 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Jade (104,124).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Scarlett. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Scarlett with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Scarlett is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
104K
~ 1 in 3,283 Americans
Peak year
2016
7,721 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#27
Tracked since 1937
Census
Scarlett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 64,821 people with the first name Scarlett, which placed it at #769 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#769
National first-name rank
People counted
65K
64,821 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
21.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scarlett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scarlett is White at 65.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Scarlett described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Scarlett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.2% · 42,263
- Hispanic or Latino24.9% · 16,129
- Two or more races5.7% · 3,686
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 1,371
- Black or African American1.4% · 938
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 434
Gender
Gender distribution for Scarlett
Out of the 106,042 babies given the name Scarlett since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Scarlett as a male name
- Ranked #12,074 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (7 births)
Scarlett as a female name
- Ranked #27 in 2024
- 5,894 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (7,719 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Scarlett appears almost entirely female. Of the 64,822 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Scarlett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Scarlett from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 58,296 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Scarlett remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Scarlett by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Scarlett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Scarletts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Scarlett, while Wyoming, District of Columbia, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,019 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Scarlett
The name Scarlett has its origins in the Old French word "escarlate", which in turn derives from the Persian word "saqalāt", meaning a rich fabric or cloth dyed with a deep red color. This association with the vivid red hue explains the name's connection to the intense red shade known as scarlet.
The name Scarlett is believed to have first emerged in England during the Middle Ages, when it was used as a descriptive surname for individuals who worked with or traded in the vibrant scarlet-colored cloth. Over time, the surname transitioned into a first name, particularly for girls.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Scarlett as a given name can be found in the 16th century. In 1592, a Scarlett Burgoyne was recorded in the parish registers of St. Dunstan's, Stepney, in London.
Throughout history, the name Scarlett has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Scarlett O'Hara, the fictional protagonist of Margaret Mitchell's renowned novel "Gone With the Wind" published in 1936. This iconic literary character played a significant role in popularizing the name in the 20th century.
Another prominent figure with the name Scarlett was Scarlett Pomers (born 1988), an American actress best known for her role as Kyra Hart on the television series "Reba".
In the realm of literature, Scarlett Thomas (born 1972) is a British author and professor, known for her novels such as "Bright Young Things" and "The Seed Collectors".
Scarlett Johansson (born 1984) is a celebrated American actress who has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award and a British Academy Film Award. She is best known for her roles in films like "Lost in Translation", "The Avengers" series, and "Marriage Story".
Lastly, Scarlett Byrne (born 1990) is a British actress and model, best recognized for her portrayal of Pansy Parkinson in the "Harry Potter" film series.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Scarlett, a name that has transcended its original association with a vivid red hue to become a popular given name in its own right.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Scarlett
People
Scarlett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Scarlett as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Scarlett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Scarlett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104,418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Scarlett going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,283 US residents.
Is Scarlett a common name?
We classify Scarlett as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106,042 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Scarlett most popular?
The single biggest year for Scarlett was 2016, when 7,721 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Scarlett is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Scarlett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 64,821 people with the name Scarlett, or 21.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #769 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Scarlett in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Scarlett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Scarlett appears almost entirely female. Of the 64,822 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Scarlett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scarlett is White at 65.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Scarlett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Scarlett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.2% (42,263 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Scarlett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Scarlett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Scarlett in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Scarlett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Scarlett in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Scarlett can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Scarlett?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.